Abstract

Women doctors can face difficulties in planning a family, during pregnancy and as mothers. This has personal impacts and can also impact on how the health service works, including whether they stay in the profession or not.

We reviewed available research papers on family planning, fertility, pregnancy and motherhood among women doctors in the EU and the UK. We included 34 studies in this scoping review.

The review found that balancing work and family life is often difficult and can affect both career choices and how long women stay in medicine. Planning a family is often more complicated for women doctors because of long training pathways and demanding workloads.

Choice of medical speciality is more complicated for women doctors, with certain specialities (e.g. General Practice) considered family-friendly and others much less so. Pregnancy complications among women doctors, especially surgeons, were reported. However, women doctors' and non-doctors' pregnancy outcomes were overall not significantly different. Notably, doctor-mothers had fewer children and were more likely to say they had to make sacrifices or experienced negative effects on their career when trying to balance work and family life.

Training bodies and health organisations should take proactive action to better support women doctors and ensure they can remain in medicine and practice in their preferred speciality. Future research examining working practices/schedules during pregnancy, breastfeeding experiences, parenting and childcare and maternal mental health will support a better understanding of women doctors' experiences and facilitate implementation of effective support measures.